Don Giovanni contemporary italian and pizzeria Full Bar — Restaurant in Port Orange

My husband and I discovered Don Giovanni about a year ago and it has become our staple, go to restaurant. As transplanted New Yorkers it is the only establishment that mirrors our dining experiences in NYC. The Neapolitan cuisine is as authentic as one half of the husband/wife owners. Giovanni hails from Naples and the decor and dishes reflect the pride and love he has for Italian food and culture. Florida born Shana is the poster child for "grace under pressure" and the heart of the Port Orange Restaurant. She waits tables, tends bar, and manages a well organized, informed, friendly group of servers. The medium sized restaurant has a loyal group of regulars and Shana remembers what her patrons drink and what foods they prefer. I recommended DG to friends and they were pleasantly surprised by the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant. The food is amazing and the portions generous. A lot of Don Giovanni's ingredients are Italian sourced like the burrata and buffalo mozzarella. Many desserts, like the gelato and pistachio cakes are imported from Italy.The Fettuccine Bolognese is packed with the goodness of ground beef ladled over fresh pasta.The flavors are rich yet not overpowering. My husband favors the traditional chicken Parm and spaghetti with meatballs, always delicious. I prefer the seafood dishes. The lightly blackened salmon and seafood medley are subtlety seasoned, and can be ordered over pasta or for the calorie conscious, over fresh veggies. The salads are always crisp fresh and made to order. Shana and her staff are more than willing to accommodate and make reasonable substitutions The thin crusted Neopolitan pizzas rival their NY cousins. The Margherita is my favorite, generously dotted with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. I am a regular patron and whether I'm dining in or picking up "take-out", I'm confident that the food is always going to be above par, the service friendly and consistent, and no drama. Just a very...

Okay, so we decided to try the new place in town after being told that the lasagna was fantastic. It's starts off in a small shopping center and it looks like a pizza place from the road, as you get closer you notice the cute seating arrangement outside, when you walk inside it is very impressive, this is clearly more than a pizza place serving Italian food, someone has great attention to detail from the tables, chairs, bar and decor, it all just comes together tucked in the corner is the visable pizza station.

We were seated immediately, asked if we would like water while we decide or a beverage, we were served fresh simple bread sticks made from pizza dough and an olive oil bread dip.

The bread quality was good, personally I would recommend maybe a twist or knot and maybe a simple brush of butter to cover the visable flour which would enhance the color and elevate this bread. I am usually not a fan of the olive oil bread dip but it was light and flavorful and the herbs really complimented the subtle sweetness of the bread.

The lasagna was everything I had hoped for, cooked to perfection with a nice golden brown cheese crust on top, filling was delicious and the sauce was magnificent with the perfect ratio of sweetness and acidity, top notch.

The Shrimp mushroom risotto is what cost them a star, the shrimp was cooked perfectly, however the rice was slightly undercooked and the dish overall was very under seasoned and bland, it has potential but not tonight.

Mr. Giovanni came by and introduced himself, very friendly and clearly Italian, Vito was making the pizzas and gave a friendly smile when you make eye contact. They also checked on us several times to make sure any needs were met.

I will definitely return and I wish this new local business all of the success in the world. For only being open for one week, very well...

Our server was new and she was great we were a party of 10 , so we weren't expecting the world when it came to speed and getting everything 100% . Even tho my friend waited the whole night for a mtn dew refill and just kept forgetting abt it lolll but I get she had a lot going on so not a big deal . 3 of us all got the chicken parm , the chicken itself was AMAZING! We ordered Alfredo with two of ours and just butter noodles with the other one . So none of us got the sauce on our noodles . ALL 3 CAME OUT WITH SAUCE . We then told her we ordered buttered and two Alfredo's . She apologized and fixed it. But the time she came back and we told her we were all getting ready to leave . So we took it go . And they also charged us for food we didn't eat and then two sides of Alfredo which was fine but nobody said it was an up charge . They then charged us for a side of chicken parm we never got but it was still on the bill . They took it off but still , why didn't we get it ??? Not to mention in the beginning 2 of us ordered mtn dew, I ordered Dr Pepper and another ordered water . They charged us for 6 sodas when our bill only had 4 people on it and 1 of us got water . So we had to again tell them and explain we didn't even get those . The noodles and the sauce were watery and so gross. We didn't even touch ours but yet was still charged lol. We got home to the noodles we originally ordered bc we couldn't eat by the time they came . And there was a long peice of hair in it and the buttered noodles just tasted like oil . Just all n all a bad night . We will never come back. Again the server tried her best . The manager came out to talk to us and was just rude . If this was her she would have been the same way. If you go be aware of all the...